DENVER – The National Hockey League announced today that Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar and forward Nathan MacKinnon were named to 2025-26 Postseason All-Star teams. Makar represented the Avalanche on the First All-Star Team, while MacKinnon was the center selected for the Second All-Star Team.
This year’s results mark the 11th time multiple Avalanche were named to postseason All-Star Teams in the same season – including the All-Rookie Team – and the third consecutive season Colorado has had multiple representatives.
Makar, 27, earned his fourth career First All-Star Team selection (2020-21, 2021-22 and 2024-25) and seventh career postseason team honor (Second Team, 2022-23 and 2023-24; All-Rookie Team, 2019-20). The Calgary, Alberta, native has been named to either a First Team, Second Team or All-Rookie Team every season since his first full campaign in 2019-20. Ray Bourque (first 17 seasons) and Bobby Orr (first nine seasons) are the only defensemen in League history to be named to one of those three postseasons teams in each of his first seven NHL campaigns. This year’s First Team honor for Makar made him the only skater in Avalanche/Nordiques history to take home four different First All-Star Team selections as well as seven different postseason team honors.
The 6-foot, 187-pound defenseman finished last season with 79 points (20g/59a) in 75 games, ranking among NHL rearguards in points (3rd), assists (T-4th), goals (6th), even-strength goals (16, 3rd) and time on ice per game (24:51, 7th). He was the runner-up for the James Norris Memorial Trophy, becoming the second player ever to be a finalist in six of his first seven full seasons. The campaign saw Makar record his 500th NHL point in his 467th career game on March 28 against Winnipeg, becoming the fourth-fastest defenseman in NHL history to reach 500 points behind Bobby Orr (396 GP), Paul Coffey (422 GP) and Denis Potvin (465 GP). Additional milestones for Makar in 2025-26 included becoming the fastest defenseman in NHL history to reach 25 career game-winning goals (399 GP) on Oct. 13 at Buffalo, tallying two points (1g/1a) in his 400th NHL game on Oct. 16 at Columbus, and notching a career-high-tying four assists on Oct. 28 vs. New Jersey. He also began the campaign with points in his first 10 road contests, tied for the third-longest such streak to start a season by a defenseman in NHL history.
MacKinnon, 30, grabbed his sixth career Postseason All-Star Team honor. He was a First Team selection in 2023-24 and 2024-25, named to the Second Team on two other previous occasions (2019-20 and 2017-18) and was one of the five skaters on the 2013-14 All-Rookie Team. He is tied with Michel Goulet for the second-most selections to a Postseason All-Star Team while playing for the Avalanche/Nordiques franchise. The three different Second Team honors are the most any player has ever garnered with the franchise and are the second-most among active NHL centermen behind Sidney Crosby (four). Additionally, MacKinnon’s six total Postseason All-Star Team choices trail only Crosby (nine) and Connor McDavid (nine) for the most among active NHLers who play center.
The 6-foot, 200-pound forward captured his first Rocket Richard Trophy in 2025-26 after leading the league with 53 goals to join Milan Hejduk in 2002-03 as the only Avalanche players to win the Trophy. The centerman also checked in third in Hart Trophy voting this season. MacKinnon finished third in league scoring with 127 points in 80 games, the third-most points in franchise history behind his own 140 in 2023-24 and Peter Stastny’s 139 in 1981-82. The Halifax, Nova Scotia, native set a franchise record with 97 even-strength points (42g/55a), the most in a single season since Wayne Gretzky had 103 (33g/70a) in 1990-91 with the Los Angeles Kings, and paced the NHL in multi-goal games (14), three-point outings (20), third-period points (56), shots (350) and rating (+57). He also ranked tied for third in assists.
MacKinnon was named the NHL’s First Star for November and Second Star for December. In November, he finished tied for first among all skaters with 26 points (11g/15a) in 13 games and then finished tied for second among that cohort with 26 points (14g/12a) across 14 games in December. In October, passed he passed Joe Sakic (1,015) for the most points in an Avalanche sweater (1,015) on Oct. 7 at Los Angeles and potted his first game-winning goal against the Mammoth franchise on Oct. 9 to become the first player in NHL history with a game-winning goal against 32 different franchises.
The duo represented Team Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Italy and won silver for their country. Makar was named to the Olympic All-Star Team after leading Canada’s defense with six points (2g/4a) in six games, a total that tied him for second among all tournament defensemen. He also scored Canada’s only goal in the Gold Medal Game. MacKinnon recorded seven points (4g/3a) in six games, ranking second on his country in goals and third in points. The forward led the tournament with three power-play goals, which included the go-ahead marker with 35.2 seconds left in regulation during Canada’s 3-2 semifinal win over Finland.
